By SAM LANCE
INDIANAPOLIS — Class of 2025 four-star point guard Nigel James has named five schools recruiting him the hardest: Marquette, Louisville, Providence, Rutgers and Georgia Tech.
James — the 6-foot, 165-pound guard from Long Island Lutheran (NY) and the Expressions Elite Nike EYBL AAU program — has averaged 8.0 points and 1.3 assists in three EYBL games so far this weekend.
Here is James’ exclusive breakdown to ZAGSBLOG.com of the schools he’s hearing from:
Marquette: “Great program, great coaches. I’ve talked to coach Shaka [Smart], the head coach a lot. Talk to him almost every day. And coach Cody [Hatt] too, talk to him almost every day. Great relationships with them, great people. And I love the school. It’s a great school.”
Louisville: “They just started reaching out to me ever since coach [Ronnie] Hamilton went to Louisville from LSU. But I’ve been in contact with them here and there. They’re a good school and I’m just looking forward to building that relationship.” James said he has no relationship with new Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey yet, but his high school coach (John Buck) has a close one. “I haven’t talked to [Kelsey].”
Providence: “I’m close with coach Nate Tomlinson, the whole coaching staff. Coach [Dennis] Felton. Coach Kim [English]. They all just recruited me, showing me that I’m a point guard that they want their school.”
Rutgers: “My friend Dylan Harper is going there, and my other friend Bryce Dortch is also going there. But I have a great relationship with coach T.J. [Thompson], coach Steve Pikiell. I took a visit there. It was a great school, great atmosphere. I liked it a lot.”
Georgia Tech: “I haven’t visited but I’ve talked to coach [Karl] Hobbs, coach [Damon] Stoudamire too. It’s a great school and I talk to them everyday.”
James took four official visits last year to Syracuse, Marquette, Rutgers and Providence. Right now, he has no plans for future visits, nor does he know where he wants to go. However, when James does eventually go on visits, he’s looking for a few things.
“The relationships, the culture, the way coaches interact with me, how they show how much love they have for me,” James said.
The point guard described himself as an aggressive player that likes to go and pick up the ball 94-feet.
“I just like to play with a winning team who likes to play hard and just make sure we get as many wins as we can,” James said.
Basketball runs in the James family, as Nigel’s father, Reece James, played basketball at the University of Buffalo. His mother was also an athlete, playing track and volleyball in high school. James also has an older sister who is not in sports.
James is ranked the No. 84 overall player in the 2025 class per 247Sports and the No. 4 player in New York.
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